Views of Kavanaugh have been stable since POLITICO/Morning Consult began asking the question after his nomination: Support for confirming Kavanaugh has ranged from 33 percent to 40 percent, while opposition has tracked from 26 percent to 29 percent.

Other polls show higher levels of opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. In a Fox News poll last month, as many voters said they would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh (46 percent) as said they would confirm him (45 percent).

Voters surveyed in the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll were asked whether senators should make Kavanaugh’s qualifications to serve on the high court their primary criteria, or whether they should mostly consider the nominee’s positions on key issues that could come before the court in his tenure.

“Since President Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court nominee, there’s been a notable uptick in voters across the political spectrum who say the nominee should be judged fundamentally on his qualifications,” said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s managing director. “This week, 66 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats say senators should vote based primarily on whether Kavanaugh is qualified, compared to 63 percent of Republicans, 49 percent of independents and 35 percent of Democrats who said the same in July.”

Both parties are mobilizing ahead of the upcoming political fight over Kavanaugh's nomination, and the poll suggests it will be a motivating issue for base voters on both sides of the aisle. More than 4 in 10 voters, 43 percent, say how Senate candidates would vote on judicial nominations is "very important" to their vote — including roughly equal percentages of Democrats (48 percent) and Republicans (49 percent).

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted August 28-31, surveying 1,964 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.